PORT SUDAN: Pro-democracy activists in Sudan reported Friday that about 40 people were killed in “violent artillery fire” carried out the previous day by paramilitary forces on Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city.
Sudan has been ravaged by war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the army, led by military chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Burhan’s former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The Karari Resistance Committee, one of hundreds of grassroots pro-democracy groups that coordinate aid across Sudan, said the RSF was behind Thursday’s deadly attack on Omdurman.
“So far, the death toll is estimated at 40 civilians and there are more than 50 injured, some seriously,” the organization said in a statement posted on social media.
“There is still no precise count of the number of victims,” it said, adding their bodies were received by Al Nao university hospital and other private health facilities or were buried by their families.
The shelling comes a day after the RSF was accused of killing more than 104 people, including 35 children Wednesday in an attack on the village of Wad Al-Noura in Al-Jazira state, south of Khartoum.
In just over a year, the war has claimed thousands of lives, with some estimates putting the death toll as high as 150,000, according to the United States’ envoy to Sudan, Tom Perriello.
Since the start of the war, more than seven million people have fled their homes for other parts of Sudan, adding to 2.8 million already displaced from previous conflicts in the country of 48 million.
Fighting continues daily across the country, including in the capital, with both sides accused of war crimes including the deliberate targeting of civilians, indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and blocking humanitarian aid.
Children killed
At least 35 children were killed in the attack on Wad Al-Noura, with activists from the Madani Resistance Committee sharing images on social media of a row of white shrouds laid out on the ground.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attack, while the UN resident coordinator for Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, said she was “shocked by reports of violent attacks and a high number of casualties” in the village and called for an investigation.
“Human tragedy has become a hallmark of life in Sudan. We cannot allow impunity to become another one,” she added.
The RSF is accused of looting as well as sexual and ethnic violence and has attacked entire villages across Sudan on multiple occasions.
In a statement, the paramilitaries said they had attacked three army camps in the region of Wad Al-Noura and clashed with them “outside” the inhabited area.
On Thursday, army chief Burhan visited the injured. In a statement he promised to “respond harshly” to the “crimes” of the RSF.
The head of the UN’s children’s agency, Catherine Russell, said she was “horrified by the reports that at least 35 children were killed and more than 20 children injured” in the attack.
“Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are unacceptable and must cease immediately,” the UNICEF chief said.
Russell called on those fighting to abide by international law and for an end to the war.
On Thursday, the International Organization for Migration said the number of internally displaced persons could “exceed 10 million” in the coming days.
Starvation is also a growing threat in Sudan, with about 18 million people suffering from hunger and 3.8 million children acutely malnourished, according to UN agencies.
Sudan activists say about ‘40 dead’ in shelling near Khartoum
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Sudan activists say about ‘40 dead’ in shelling near Khartoum
- The RSF was behind Thursday’s deadly attack on Omdurman: aid organisation
- The shelling comes a day after the RSF was accused of killing more than 104 people, including 35 children
Syrian state media: Israel attacked town near Lebanon border
“An Israeli aggression targeted the industrial zone in Al-Qusayr” in Homs province, the official SANA news agency said. There was no immediate news of casualties or damage.
Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391
- The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours
GAZA STRIP: The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Tuesday that at least 43,391 people have been killed in the year-old war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 102,347 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
Greece says migrant arrivals rising in south-east islands
- At the end of October, several hundred migrants set up tents and cardboard houses outside the local government offices of the city of Rhodes, sparking anger among residents
- Rhodes mayor Alexandros Koliadis told Rodiaki that the island lacks the personnel, police officers and coast guard needed to register the arrivals before transferring them to camps
ATHENS: Some islands in the southeast of the Aegean sea, including Rhodes, are seeing an increase in migrants arriving by boat from Turkiye, Greek migration and asylum minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said Tuesday.
“The southeast of the Aegean and the island of Rhodes are experiencing migratory pressure right now,” he said on public television station ERT, though he said the increase does not appear to be linked to rising tensions in the Middle East.
At the end of October, several hundred migrants set up tents and cardboard houses outside the local government offices of the city of Rhodes, sparking anger among residents and local authorities.
According to local media Rodiaki, more than 700 migrants arrived during the last week of October.
Rhodes mayor Alexandros Koliadis told Rodiaki that the island lacks the personnel, police officers and coast guard needed to register the arrivals before transferring them to camps on the mainland or in other islands.
Previously, Aegean islands further north such as Lesbos and Samos had received the brunt of migrants crossing from Turkish shores.
Crete, which has likewise seen an increase in arrivals from Libya, also needs to build facilities to process migrants.
Greece has seen a 25 percent increase this year in the number of people fleeing war and poverty, with a 30 percent increase alone to Rhodes and the south-east Aegean, according to the Migration Ministry.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says 48,158 arrivals have been recorded so far in 2024, of which around 42,000 arrived by boat and 6,000 by crossing the land frontier with Turkiye.
“The camps on the islands have an occupancy rate of 100 percent. But on the mainland they are only 55 percent full, which provides a margin in the event of an increase in arrivals on the islands,” Panagiotopoulos said.
Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister
- Chad last month denied accusations that it was “amplifying the war in Sudan” by arming the RSF
PORT SUDAN: Sudan’s army-backed government on Tuesday accused neighboring Chad of supplying arms to rebel militias, likely referring to the paramilitary forces it is battling.
The northeast African country has been engulfed by war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the regular army, led by de facto ruler Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Justice minister Muawiya Osman said Burhan’s administration had lodged the complaint against Chad at the African Union.
Speaking to reporters, including AFP, Osman said the government demanded compensation and accused Chad of “supplying arms to rebel militias” and causing “harm to Sudanese citizens.”
“We will present evidence to the relevant authorities,” he added from Port Sudan, where Burhan relocated after fighting spread to the capital, Khartoum.
Chad last month denied accusations that it was “amplifying the war in Sudan” by arming the RSF.
“We do not support any of the factions that are fighting on Sudanese territory — we are in favor of peace,” foreign minister and government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said at the time.
The United Nations has been using the Adre border crossing between the two countries to deliver humanitarian aid.
Sudan had initially agreed to keep the crossing open for three months, a period set to expire on November 15. Authorities in Khartoum have yet to decide whether to extend the arrangement.
The Sudanese war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million, including 3.1 million who are now sheltering beyond the country’s borders.
Explosion at Turkish oil refinery injures 12
- The 12 employees sustained slight injuries and were taken to a hospital for examinations
ANKARA: An explosion at an oil refinery in northwestern Turkiye on Tuesday left at least 12 employees slightly injured, the company said. A fire at the facility was quickly brought under control.
The Turkish Petroleum Refineries company, TUPRAS, said a fire broke out at its facilities in Izmit, in Kocaeli province, during maintenance work on a compressor. The company’s emergency teams responded immediately to the incident, it said in a statement.
The 12 employees sustained slight injuries and were taken to a hospital for examinations, the company said.
The company said the unit where the incident occurred “was deactivated in a controlled manner” and that other operations at the refinery were “continuing as normal.”
Earlier, Tahir Buyukakin, the mayor for Kocaeli told private NTV television that the blast occurred during a drill. The fire was quickly brought under control by the company’s own crews and no request for help was made, he said.
Video footage from the site showed smoke rising from the refinery, which is one of Turkiye’s largest. Izmit is about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of Istanbul.
The Borsa Istanbul stock exchange temporarily halted trading of TUPRAS shares, until the company provides a detailed explanation of the incident.